Record Number: 10002

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

[Transcription from a commonplace book]: Title = 'Epitaph on a tomb in Melrose Abbey'; text [4 lines] = 'The yerthe walketh on ye earthe glyttering lyke golde/ The yerthe goeth to ye yerthe sooner than it wolde/ The yerthe buildeth upon the yerthe castelles & towers/ the yerthe sayeth to the yerthe, all things are ours'

Century:

1800-1849, 1850-1899

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1810 and 31 Dec 1871

Country:

n/a

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Magdalene Sharpe- Erskine

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

1787

Socio-Economic Group:

Gentry

Occupation:

Daughter of a Scottish land owning family

Religion:

Anglican

Country of Origin:

Scotland

Country of Experience:

n/a

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

Identity of reader is tentative

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Anon

Title:

Epitaph on a tomb in Melrose Abbey

Genre:

Other religious, Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Unknown

Publication Details

A form of the text was published in The mirror of literature, amusement and instruction, v.X, no. 290, December 29, 1827

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

10002

Source:

Manuscript

Author:

Magdelene Sharpe- Erskine

Title:

Recueil

Location:

Dunimarle Library at Duff House

Call No:

DH LIB 2024

Page/Folio:

Item 9

Additional Information:

n/a

Citation:

Magdelene Sharpe- Erskine, Recueil, Dunimarle Library at Duff House, DH LIB 2024, Item 9, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=10002, accessed: 20 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

Identity of author is tentative.
A commonplace book containing 69 items, mainly in one hand. On the basis of writing style, nature of contents, dates of entries (1827-1871) and of the material selected (mainly poets from the late 18th to mid-19th century), and the watermark date (1810), the most likely identity of the main hand is Magdalene Sharpe-Erskine, the youngest child of the main generation who collected the Dunimarle Library. Fourteen of the items are exclusively or mainly prose, the rest are poetry. Most are in English. About half the items are given, by the complier, as anonymous and about a third have no title. In each case some 6 have been identified from other sources.